Chapter 21Peggy Warner
Chapter 21
Dreaming of Love
Peggy Warner
P eggy took her time getting ready once her mother and father were gone. Then she packed a basket of leftover sweets from the party last night and slipped sandwiches in. She had no hope of seeing Duke. Last night one of Staten’s men said her cowboy drew the short straw and had to work.
Peggy drove out to the cemetery. She just wanted to sit among the trees and eat. She’d be home alone within an hour and then she’d watch movies and enjoy the quiet time.
As the day aged, she’d probably fall asleep on the couch.
It would be silent, but it wouldn’t be lonely. When you’re a “one,” everyone wants to invite you to things. Many of the things Peggy didn’t really want to go to. It took until she was almost twenty before she finally got up enough nerve to start saying no.
Two years ago, Peggy’s school friends invited her to go out to the local bar. She was twenty-five then. She decided to go. Why not? She had her own car so she could leave early.
When she walked inside, she was disheartened. The place looked more like a pizza shop than a bar. No band, just a radio playing, but everyone seemed happy. Conversation flowed easily.
But after a trip to the restroom, she came out to find the people she’d come with had already left. For a minute she panicked. Alone in a bar. Then she realized she lived three blocks away. Before she had time to calm, she saw her purse under her chair at the empty table.
No one in the bar noticed as she picked it up and slipped out. She didn’t want to be seen sitting alone in a bar. This wasn’t the wild place she’d feared.
The parking lot was well lit. No one passed in the street. There wasn’t even any trash blowing around. Her old car was parked two places down from the door.
She almost laughed. All her life she’d feared a dark, unpaved lot at midnight. Bad thugs fighting or outlaws beating up drunks for their leftover beer money. But nothing happened until a few guys came out of the bar, talking about when to plant in spring. They walked to their cars without a single cuss word.
Still, Peggy ran and jumped into her car and was backing out before anyone could have gotten in.
She drove the proper speed. Before the car warmed, she was home. She ran up the apartment steps and darted in and locked both locks just in case one of the not-so drunks followed her home.
And then she laughed. What an adventure!
Peggy dreamed about walking into the place one Saturday night to find Duke there waiting for her in a booth.
They’d talk. Maybe he’d ask her to dance as they’d done at the New Year’s Eve party at the Kirklands’.
When she’d danced with him at the party, she was happy. Proud.
She smiled. She loved living in her dreams.
The weekend had seen a dusting of snow, and by Monday, the cemetery was covered in a thin blanket of the freezing wet stuff. It had been too cold for Peggy and Duke to meet at their usual spot under the large oak that protected the graves on the hill, but Peggy found herself driving the few miles to the cemetery anyway.
She knew her cowboy wouldn’t be there, but she wanted to brush off the inches of snow so he’d know she’d shown up and stayed as long as she could.
Ice patches dotted the hill, and Peggy had to catch herself from falling more than once. It was a slow climb up. By the time she joined her ancestors resting at the top, snow began falling again.
Peggy ran her thick gloves over the gravestones, brushing the small snow piles off the tops. She glanced out toward the rapids, remembering her time with Duke. Despite the chill, the white-painted ground shimmering in the sunlight was a beautiful sight. It would be even better if he were here.
She slowly made her way down the hill to the river, retracing the steps she’d taken with her cowboy a few weeks before. She didn’t know how, but somehow in the short time she’d known him, the quiet, sweet ranch hand had come to mean so much to her. Peggy thought about him day and night and often imagined what it would be like to go out and face the world together.
Fat, puffy flakes fell on her nose, and she looked up to see a winter wonderland. White filled the air around her, falling faster with each second. In her daydreaming, she’d lost track of the time and the weather. It seemed a snowstorm was blowing in.
Peggy made her way back to the hill but could barely see more than a few feet in front of her. Afraid she’d gotten turned around, she looked for the old oak swaying in the wind. Nothing. The huge tree seemed to have vanished. In a blink everything had turned white with the snow.
She lost all sense of direction for a few minutes. And the chill was starting to sneak through her winter coat. She looked back, searching for the rapids, but barely saw her own tracks. Peggy knew she was out there all alone. No one around for miles.
The snow was getting thicker. If she didn’t move, she’d be stuck in this whiteout and maybe even freeze to death. She squinted her eyes, hoping for a clearer view. For a moment, there was nothing beyond the white flakes dancing in the breeze. Then the wind blew them away.
Tears rained down her face as the hill seemed to rise up in front of her. And racing down the side was her cowboy, bundled up in a thick brown coat with the Double K brand, his black hat tilted against the wind.
“Peggy. Thank God. I’ve been searching everywhere for you.” He wrapped her in his arms. “I was afraid you’d gotten lost out here.”
She snuggled her face against his chest. “Me too.” She wouldn’t tell him just how scared she’d been.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
He grabbed her hand, nearly dragging her up the hill. As the graves appeared, relief melted through her. Duke led her to his pickup as the weather shifted to a slushy mist.
“I was waiting for you,” she whispered.
He squeezed her tighter in his embrace, and she squeezed him back. For a moment all seemed right with the world.
Finally, they climbed into the truck holding one another. All she wanted to do was touch him. Every day he couldn’t come, she’d missed him more.
A shiver racked through Peggy as the heater’s hot air fell over her. She hadn’t realized how cold she’d gotten until her body tried to warm back up.
Duke pulled her onto his lap, rubbing his hands over her arms and her back. “How long were you out there?”
She shrugged, clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering. “I lost track. But I would’ve waited for you forever.”
He tilted up her chin and lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was slow and sweet, like he was trying to communicate with more than just words.
When he leaned back and breathed, Duke finally said, “I think I love you, Peggy. I know you may think this is crazy but I can’t get you out of my mind. I’m not rushing into this. I told myself a hundred times to slow down but no one ever has kissed me the way you do. And I’ve never felt as alive as I do with you.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “This time I can’t walk away. Not from you.”
“I love you too, Duke.”
This was the first time she found a man who cared. She couldn’t wait to get closer.